Lumber-drying kiln



(No Model.)

H. J. MORTON. LUMBBR DRYING. KILN.

No. 548,445. Patented Oct. 22,1895.A

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UNrTnD STATES PATENT Ormes.

HORACE J. MORTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LUMBER-DRYING KILN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,445, dated October 22, 1895.

Application filed January 9, 1895. Serial No. 534,303- (NO model) To cr/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HORACE J. Moarolv, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LumberDrying Kilos; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements :in the construction of kilns for drying lumber.

The object of the invention is to provide a kiln adapted to eliminate the moisture from the lumber in a rapid and efficient manner and with the greatest economy in the consumption of heat and cost therefor.

The novel features of the invention are hereinafter described and set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of my improved kiln, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, with a portion of the outer wall or siding broken away; and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the top or upper part of the kiln, showing a modification for the coldair admission.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the drying room or chamber, made of any desired form and dimensions adapted for the lumber or material for which it is designed. Said room is provided with railroad-track and trucks thereon, upon which the lumber is piled with spaces between to allow for the passage of heated air, as shown in Fig. 1, the arrangement of which is that in general use and without novelty. Said room is adapted to be heated by any known heating device or apparatus, steam being preferred, coils of pipe 2 being placed underneath the piles `of lumber, into which steam of the pressure to produce the required degree of heat is admitted, from which a portion of the heat is radiated, and the air in contact therewith is heated and circulates upward and through the spaces between the lumber in the usual manner. The ends of said kiln (not shown) are made in any desired or known manner, being, in general, for the greater part formed of doors which are adapted to slide upward and are counterbalanced by weights, so as to be easily moved and wedged to the face of the kiln to form a tight joint therewith. The sides of said kiln are formed of a series of upright studs or posts 3, spaced the proper distance apart, supported upon sill-plates 4:, and are connected at the top by longitudinal string-pieces 5, secured thereto. The edges of said upright studs are tightly boarded over to form an outer wall 6 and an inner wall 7, spaces or conduits 8 being formed thereby between said walls aud adjacent studs, adapted for the passage of cold air therethrough to the drying-room, and in like manner communicating cold-air passages are formed at the top of the kiln by means of the rafters Sl, ceiling 10, and the roof 1l. Said passages terminate in longitudinal openings 12 at the apex of the roof, at which point the cold air enters in its downward passage through said conduits to the drying-room. Said longitudinal openings are provided with ventilator-roofing 13, by which they are protected from rain and will be readily understood. Said air spaces or conduits 8 do not terminate at the bottom of the inner side walls, but extend laterally therefrom toward the center of the drying-room and underneath the heating-pipes, (see Fig. 1,) at which point the cold air entering at the apex roof-opening is discharged into the drying-room. The top tlooring or covering of said lateral openings forms convenient footwalks along the inner side walls and is utilized for this purpose.

14 are ventilator-pipes, the lower ends of which are inserted through the drying-room ceiling, being tightly fittedY therein, while the upper ends project through the roof. Said pipes are provided with valves or dampers 15, which are adapted to be adjusted to create and maintain the proper degree of circulation in the kiln and to control the outflow through the pipes of the moisture abstracted from the lumber.

16 are openings cut through the rafters,be tween which the ventilator-pipes pass to admit the cold air from the roof inlet-openings into the space or conduit through which said pipes pass, without which. said space or conduit would be out off and inoperative for supplying air therethrough to the drying-room.

The modication shown in Fig. 3 consists in forming the air-inlets at the top of the IOO sides underneath the eaves of the roof, and will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings. Such construction may be used and a partial result obtained when from any cause the formation of roof inductionconduits is not practicable.

From the foregoing description the operation is apparent. Cold air entering at the roofopenings is discharged through the conduits into the drying-room and supplied to the heating apparatus under normal pressure, and is raretied and expanded by the heat lilling the room with heated air, the moisture from the lumber being evaporated thereby, and as the heatedair vapors are kept below the point of saturation by means of the valves in the vcntilatorpipes said vapors will have sufficient expansive force to ascend and be carried o'ff through said pipes, and will thus remove the moisture from the drying-room.V

It will be seen that the salient feature of the invention resides in the construction of the cold-air-induction conduits, by which the air is partially heated before entering the kiln by the heat passing through the inside Walls and ceiling of the kiln, and which would be otherwise wasted by condensation and cooling, it having been found that under the most advantageous construction of wall for drying-kilns heretofore in practice a large percentage of heat is thereby absorbed and wasted. In my construction the heat transmitted through the inside walls will heat the cold-air spaces to a degree of temperature approximating one-half that within the drying-room, a large percentage of which is transferred back thereto, thereby economizing the heat and materially reducing the cost of drying lumber, while sufficient moisture is-obtained to prevent what is termed case-hardening.

I am aware that it is not new,per se, to form the walls of buildings double, comprising an outer and inner wall, for various purposes, and I do not claim such as my invention.

In my invention I have made adaptation and application of such construction for a new and useful purpose whereby a great saving in the cost of drying lumber is effected in a simple and efficient manner.

Having described my invention, I claiml. In a lumber drying kiln structure, adapted to form a drying room or chamber therein,

between said studding; said air ducts or conv duits communicating with transverse air passages or conduits at the top formed in like manner by means of rafters, ceiling, and roof as described; air inlet openings at the apex of the roof communicating with said transverse and side walls ducts or conduits, and with lateral passages or openings extending from the inside of said side walls at the bottom toward the centerv of said drying chamber, and valved flue openings through the ceiling and roof of said structure, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination in a lumber drying kiln of a drying chamber, provided with a heating device or apparatus, lateral cold air inlets or passages extending from said heating device to the side walls of said kiln, and communicating with like conduits in said side walls, and conduits formed between the ceiling and roof of said kiln terminating in cold air admission openings or inlets in the roof thereof, and communicating and connecting with said side walls and lateral conduits, substantially as set forth.

3. In a lumber drying kiln,the combination of a drying chamber, a heating apparatus for said drying chamber, lateral cold air conduits from said heating apparatus to the side walls of said kiln; cold air conduits in said side walls communicating with said lateral conduits, and also communicating with conduits between the roof and ceiling of said kiln; said conduits adapted for the passage of cold air from the top of the kiln roof to said heater and chamber, and for the heating of said air therein, ventilator pipes or openings through said ceiling and roof, valves or dampers in said pipes or openings, and openings cut through the rafters adjacent to the ventilator pipes, between which said ventilator pipes pass, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HORACE J. MORTON. Vitnesses:

WALTER C. ,ToHNsoN, EDWARD S. CURTIS.

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